My Route 66 Blog

From the busy streets of London to the iconic Route 66

At the end of April, I will be leaving my taxi and the busy streets of London behind, and heading off to Chicago to begin, what has been called the quintessential American road trip, covering over 2,500 miles, ending at Santa Monica Pier, Los Angeles.

Route 66, built in 1926, was the first highway of its kind, connecting urban and rural America, crossing eight states and three time zones. It holds an elevated place in American consciousness and tells diverse stories of a mobile nation on the road. Route 66 (originally named Route 60) was the brainchild of two midwest businessmen: Cyrus Avery (known as the “Father of Route 66”) from Tulsa, Oklahoma and John Thomas Woodruff from Springfield, Missouri.

Together, they lobbied the Associated Highways Association of America to build a commercial highway from Chicago to Los Angeles to link the small towns (supporting local stores and farms) of the midwest with the major markets on either end. The mass production of the motor car led to the clamour for better roads and Route 66 was designed to be the first trans continental, year- round highway. The idea was, that thousands of travellers would support all the local stores, "mom and pop motels"and gas stations, creating a main street of each small town. Thus, the highway was also known as the "Main Street of America"

Sales of passenger cars rose from 181,000 in 1910 to 4.5 million in 1929. And, as automobile manufacturing expanded, so did automotive retail and services businesses, including automobile dealerships, service stations, garages and repair shops, and tyre and automobile accessories stores.

Transportation brought transformation, as "The Mother Road" symbolised a pathway to easier times, and was seen by many families who had poor prospects, many of whom had been forced to leave their homes in The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, as a short cut to freedom.

Route 66 was one of the United States' first continuous stretches of paved highway, and served as a major path for those who migrated from Oklahoma and Kansas to escape the "Dustbowl". But in his Pulitzer Prize winning book The Grapes of Wrath in 1939, a few years after the Great Depression ended, John Steinbeck coined the phrase "The Mother Road" , but instead of extolling the virtues of Route 66 he chronicled the plight of the migrant families fleeing the Dust Bowl seeking employment in California.

The Mother Road

Route 66 grew in popularity in the 1950's when vacationers hit the open road, loaded up their Airstreams and headed for the wide open spaces of the west. Many people attribute the hay day of Route 66 to when, after the war, in 1946, Bobby Troup invited Americans to, "Get Your kicks on Route Sixty-six" and listed the evocative placenames: "Now you go through Saint Louis, Joplin, Missouri, and Oklahoma City is mighty pretty. You see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico, Flagstaff, Arizona. Don't forget Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernandino"

This iconic anthem has been covered by literally hundreds of artists, most successfully by Nat King Cole and Chuck Berry

but also by The Rolling Stones and Depeche Mode, whose version in a medley with "Behind The Wheel", reached number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in May 1988.

Billy Bragg even recorded an anglicised version of the song entitled "A13 (Trunk Road to the Sea)" in 1985. Using the original music he replaced the landmark cities with English towns from Canning Town to Southend.

But Dwight Eisenhower's 1956 Federal Highway Act changed everything, as the newer, bigger, faster interstate system bypassed Route 66 and brought about the beginning of its demise. Tourism suffered as businesses shut, resulting in some parts of the route being abandoned altogether. By 1985, Route 66 was decommissioned and officially ceased to be, as portrayed in the Disney Pixar movie "Cars"

Only 85% of the original route has survived, but I am looking forward to seeing for myself, whether it's spirit lives on. The U.S National Park Service has recently mobilised efforts and provided funding to protect and breathe life into what is left, bringing something of a resurgence in interest and nostalgia for the historic route.

Most of the places featured in Bobby Troup's lyrics, I too know very little about.

But now the time is right , or at least it was three years ago when I celebrated my 66'th birthday and began planning a trip of a lifetime to set off to get my own "Kicks on Route 66".

After a three year delay due to the travel restrictions imposed during the Covid pandameic, I am raring to go; to follow the advice of "Steppenwolf"

"Get your motor runnin'

Head out on the highway

Looking for adventure

In whatever comes our way:

I hope to post updates on my blog as I cover the route so stay tuned to www.discoverlondontaxitours.com